Evermay Concert Series

BIOGRAPHY

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Benedict Kloeckner

Cello

Appointed Visiting Producer

One of Germany's most acclaimed young cellists, Benedict Kloeckner is performing with renowned orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic, German Radio Philharmonic Orchestras, the NDR and Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Kremerata Baltica, Slovak Radio Orchestra and the Russian and Polish State Philharmonic Orchestras, alongside conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Howard Griffiths, Ingo Metzmacher, Michael Sanderling, Karl Heinz Steffens, Christoph Poppen, and Heinrich Schiff.

In the 2019-2020 season, Kloeckner will perform as featured soloist in the Dvořák Cello Concerto on an Asian tour with the Slovak National Orchestra, the Shostakovich Cello Concerto in Germany and Austria with the Rheinische Philharmonie led by Daniel Raiskin, and concerts with the Filarmónica de Buenos Aires. He will perform the Beethoven Triple Concerto in several European tours; recitals of the complete Bach Cello Suites in Berlin, the Netherlands, and Washington state; a South American tour featuring recitals at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires as well as in São Paulo and Montevideo; and a US tour with concerts in New York, DC, and Baltimore.

Championed by maestros such as Daniel Barenboim and Sir Simon Rattle, he performs across Europe, North and South America, and Asia at venues including Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Symphony Hall, The Kennedy Center, Tonhalle Zurich, Cadogan Hall, the Barbican Centre, Athenäum Bukarest, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Wien, and Seoul Arts Center. A keen chamber musician, Kloeckner regularly collaborates with renowned artists such as Emanuel Ax, Yuri Bashmet, Danae Dörken, Christoph Eschenbach, Anna Fedorova, Gidon Kremer, Anne Sophie Mutter, Antoine Tamestit, the Carducci String Quartet, and Sir Andras Schiff. Kloeckner opened the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra's 2017/18 season performing two concertos, one of which was the premiere of Howard Blake's Double Concerto. In 2018 he presented the world premiere of Eun-Hwa Cho's Cello Concerto with the Korean Chamber Orchestra led by Christoph Poppen, part of a three day residency at Seoul Arts Center, as well as the world premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's Double Concerto for Two Celli.

Kloeckner is a prize-winner of major international competitions such as the European Broadcasting Union Award in Bratislava, the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann Cello Competition in Berlin, the Animato International Soloist Competition in Zurich, the Nicolas Firmenich Prize from the Verbier Festival, the Manhattan International Music Competition New York, and the European Culture Prize from the European Culture Foundation.

Benedict Kloeckner regularly collaborates with contemporary composers including Eric Tanguy, Wolfgang Rihm, and Howard Blake. Howard Blake composed a cello sonata for him and, in celebration of his 75th birthday, Blake invited Kloeckner to record his entire repertoire for cello and piano on Genuin Records.  His recording catalogue includes a highly acclaimed recording of Robert Schumann's Cello Concerto, which was nominated for the German Record Critics prize, and collaborations with Gidon Kremer, conductors Heinrich Schiff and Michael Sanderling, and pianists José Gallardo and Anna Fedorova. Future recordings include a CD with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a recital CD with Danae Dörken.

Since September 2014, Benedict Kloeckner is the artistic director and founder of the International Music Festival Koblenz, an organization presenting high level chamber music concerts with artists such as Vilde Frang, Tianwa Yang, Boris Giltburgm and the Georgian and Munich Chamber Orchestras.

Benedict Kloeckner studied with Martin Ostertag as well as Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman at the Kronberg Academy, graciously financed by the Angela Winkler-Scholarship since October 2009. Kloeckner is also grateful to Steven Isserlis, Gidon Kremer, Michael Sanderling, and Sir Andras Schiff for the musical insight and support they have offered for his artistic development. He plays a 1680 Francesco Rugeri Cremona cello, kindly on loan to him by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

BIOGRAPHY

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Ryo Yanagitani, D.M.A.

Piano

Hailed by the Washington Post as "A pianist's pianist," Ryo has established himself as one of Canada's shining artists. His success includes winning the gold medal at the 10th San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he was also given special recognition for a performance of the complete Chopin Ballades. He is also the grand prize winner of the Hugo Kauder International Piano competition and a laureate of the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, the Dr. Luis Sigall International Piano competition in Vina del Mar (Chile), and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Ryo has made concerto appearances with orchestras around the world including the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Moroccan Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Kioi Symphonietta. His performances have taken him to such venues as the Kennedy Center, The National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and Salle Cortot in Paris among others.

In addition to his solo career, he is much sought after as a chamber musician, performing in a wide range of settings from the duo sonata repertoire to large ensembles. Ryo is frequently invited as guest pianist to chamber music festivals across the US, in the capacity of both lecturer and collaborative pianist.

A recipient of many scholarships and awards, Ryo has been endowed twice by the Canadian Arts Council with a grant as an Emerging Artist, and is a recipient of the Arthur Foote Scholarship from the Harvard Musical Association. He was also awarded the Sony Foundation of America Career Grant through the Salon de Virtuosi of New York, and a Washington Award by the S&R Foundation of Washington DC. He has also been an artist-in-residence of the Maxwell Shepherd Fund of Connecticut. Ryo is also increasingly recognized not only as a performer but as a pedagogue, and is in demand as adjudicator to competitions and as masterclass clinician in North America and Asia. He has also released two solo CDs consisting of works by Chopin and Debussy, as well as a CD in collaboration with the cellist Dai Miyata in Japan.

Ryo Yanagitani received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music under Boris Berman, a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia under Doctor Henri-Paul Sicsic, and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute under Sergei Babayan. He was an instructor for the Chamber Music Program at Yale, and was a visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He currently holds the title of Artistic Director of the Ryuji Ueno Foundation in Washington DC, and oversees the Evermay Concert Series in Georgetown.